AudioFiles presents stories of people using their skill and intellect to create and explore. Our reporters look at science getting a sense of humor and artists making the best of some of the worst land possible. Storyteller Jeff Simmermon talks about his craft. And check out the latest installment in our ongoing series about folk music from around the world. Plus, the band Slack Tide joins us live in the studio.

Conflicts, differences of opinion, diverging interpretations. While there is much that pulls us together, we’re often just as defined by the ways we’re pulled apart.

Our latest podcast examines the ways disagreements make our lives more complicated – and richer. We’ll hear voices from a religious minority in China – and hear both sides in a dispute over education policy changes in New York. We’ll also explore how disagreements seep into our daily lives, whether it’s family arguments over the holidays or trying to please the most picky of eaters. We’ll also hear from Adam Moss, a violinist who teaches the art of the fiddle, and Larry “Lak” Henderson, a New Jersey native who turns hip-hop music into history lessons.

Do we even have to say it? There’s no place in the world like New York. This edition of AudioFiles looks at some of the city’s subcultures and the people who define them.

We explore the evolving world of hip-hop and travel back in time to when the East Village was defined by punk. We also hear from young Brooklyn skateboarders and learn how city parents are taking over Meetup.com.

There’s plenty more – including a performance by the Latin jazz band Los Hacheros.

In recent years, 3-D printing has changed professional designing: Prototypes can be “printed” in plastic or other materials before going into mass production. Now, 3-D printing could be headed for the home.

MakerBot operates a storefront on Mulberry Street, where it sells 3-D printers designed for the professional and personal markets.

The company’s efforts follow the work of Hid Lipson, a robotics researcher at Cornell University, who has experimented with 3-D printers in 1999. He’s already “printed” such diverse items as batteries and cookies. His goal: to print a robot.